Set Fire to the Rain
by Celestia0909
Summary: Lily Evans says goodbye to the boy she grew up with. Not all things are meant to last as she sets fire to the rain and turns her back on the past. "She wanted to turn around and apologise, to hug him, to kiss him, to leave some trace of sweetness in their goodbye, but her body decided otherwise."


"He can have whatever else he wants. He can have the flat in Knightsbridge, he can have the cars, hell he can even keep all the money, but I'm keeping Achilles and the cottage in the Cotswolds. That's absolutely non-negotiable," Lily insisted as she stared blankly at her husband - soon to be ex - sitting opposite her.

"Absolutely not, it was _my_ money that bought that property, not yours. You can keep Achilles, I never wanted that disgusting dog anyway."

"_Your_ money? That's rich, or have you forgotten that _I _paid for half of it? How'd _you _pay your half anyway, exploiting little children? Smuggling drugs into the country?" Lily scoffed and leant forward in her seat, far enough forward for her arms to rest atop the walnut table. "I may have been a fool for marrying you, but I'll be damned if you walk away with the cottage - that's the only place I can call home now."

They glared at one another, each waiting for the other to speak and deliver the next blow. The space between the warring couple was thick with tension, and Lily steeled herself — he could attack her with insults, but nothing would make her budge.

Once, his dark black eyes had looked at her with admiration and love – fragile as it was. He had carried her home after their many drunken nights spent on the town. Once, he had been willing to give her the world. Now, however, his eyes were devoid of all emotion except for resentment.

She was sure that hers told a similar story.

Beside him, his lawyer whispered in hushed tones, and Lily made out just enough to know that he implored Severus to be reasonable.

"Whose fucking side are you on, Lestrange. Aren't you supposed to be _my_ lawyer?" Severus spat. His lawyer cowered slightly in his chair. "I'm not letting her have the cottage."

"Mr Lestrange, against my advice, my client is willing to walk away from this marriage with nothing more than the spaniel, Achilles, and the cottage in the Cotswolds," Kingsley said with pursed lips. "It would be wise of your client to accept this _generous_ offer. Make a decision by close of business tomorrow."

"Right, well that's duly noted, but I've made my decision," Severus removed his fist from the table and got up from his seat. "The answer is no."

"Severus, what do you think you—" his lawyer, Lestrange, pleaded.

Severus paced behind his chair. "I want to talk to you, out _there_," he gestured towards the empty hallway. "Without _them_." He nodded towards Lestrange and Kingsley.

For the first time since they had sat down this morning, he seemed withdrawn and defeated, fatigue apparent in his posture. She would have felt sorry for him — once. That was before she had discovered the true depths of his depravity.

"Lily, I strongly advise that any discussion you two may need to have, be carried out in the presence of myself and Mr Lestrange," Kingsley warned as his dark eyes glanced at Severus then back at her.

There was no harm in speaking to him, Lily thought. What could he say to her in private that hadn't already been said in this room or otherwise?

Lily nodded at her lawyer and reassured him that everything would be fine before she got out of her seat and followed Severus into the wood-panelled hallway. His shoulders dropped slightly as he steered her towards an empty meeting room just a few steps from the boardroom, and Lily followed cautiously, unsure of what he was playing at.

"What do you think you're doing?" Severus seethed as he turned around to face her, shutting the door behind him as he did.

In the months since they had last seen each other, Severus' hair had gotten longer, and his face had become more sallow and pale — if that was even possible. There was a darkness about him that she had never noticed before and his bruised knuckles didn't go unnoticed as she took a step back from him.

"I'm not going to cower away from you and let you take my home, Severus."

He took a step towards her and Lily steeled herself as he lifted his hand. He let it hover between them for a few moments before he dropped it and stepped away again.

"Why are you doing all this anyway? I'm the only family you've got left."

"You're lying, Petunia's still around."

Severus scoffed darkly, "Right, let me rephrase that; I'm the only family you've got left that actually cares about you."

Lily's stomach dropped, and even though she wanted to seem strong in front of him, she knew that he was right. She hadn't seen Petunia in three years, and they hadn't exactly separated amicably. The last time they had seen each other was at Lily's engagement party. To say that the party was a disaster would have been an understatement, a complete shitstorm would be a better way to describe it.

Her confidence and strength faltered slightly, and an overwhelming wave of anxiety and panic paralysed her. Staying married to Severus wasn't a viable option, but perhaps if she did, she wouldn't have to worry about where to stay or whether she'd be able to eat.

When her parents died, she and Petunia had been left with a comfortable inheritance. When she married Severus, she spent her inheritance on her share of their cottage in the Cotswolds. She hadn't stopped to think about where that would leave her if they ever separated.

Of course, love made you do silly things in your youth, and she had never considered that things would ever sour between them. She had been blinded by love and how beautiful the house and surrounding grounds were. Such was the foolhardiness of youth and the ignorance that love brought with it.

"If you drop this now, you can come back home with me. I promise you I'll stop hanging out with Riddle and his colleagues."

The mention of Tom Riddle, whatever anxiety and fear held Lily in a vice grip, promptly left, and her resolve strengthened once more.

How many times had he said that exact same sentence? How many times had he come home with mysterious bruises and bloody patches on his clothes, and offered no explanation? How many times had he lied to her in the three years they'd been together?

She had believed him every single time.

"Can you honestly look me – your wife – in the eyes and tell me that you will never so much as _speak_ to – or, of – Riddle and his goons?"

Green eyes looked into black, and Lily ignored the knock on the door. Even _if_ he did do as she asked, it would change nothing. What it would bring was closure; a final confirmation of her fears. Tom Riddle and his gang would always take precedence over her; they would always be lurking in the shadows, waiting to take Severus away from her.

She didn't know how long he stared at her, his mind no doubt running over the pros and cons of doing as she asked. Finally, however, he frowned and looked down at his shoes.

It was as if the final nail had been hammered into the coffin of their marriage, and there was nothing more to be said or done.

The walk back to the boardroom was quiet. Severus muttered a few whispered words to his legal counsel before both their lawyers went through the final proceedings of their divorce. All the while, Lily tried her best to ignore Severus' eyes fixated on her.

Their lawyers spoke to one another, negotiating other matters of their separation: the division of assets, whether there would be an estate sale, and other matters that seemed trivial to Lily.

She knew that Severus' eyes were on her, but the room seemed to fade away as her mind wandered to the years that they had spent together. They had grown up together, her and Severus. They had shared history, and they'd known each longer than they hadn't.

In the past few months, Severus had sullied all those memories with the truth of his betrayal and depravity. She had demonised him — thought him a cad and a bastard. She had wasted fourteen years of her life on him; but now that their marriage was coming to a close, the only things that she could remember were the sweetness of those years.

Years when summer days were spent by the creek near their houses. Their first year at boarding school where they'd explored the castle and got into mischief. The autumn mornings when they would stroll by the lake on the grounds of the school and kick fallen leaves at one another. There were cold wintery mornings where they huddled by the fire, lost in one another's embrace and smothered in sweet kisses.

But then she remembered the betrayal.

The day when she had arrived early after her parents' funeral and witnessed Severus and his friends assaulting a defenceless woman. He had denied any wrongdoing, of course, but she had seen too much to believe him.

He had promised it would never happen again, that he would stop being friends with Riddle and his friends, but she knew it was a lie. Riddle was the one thing that always came between them, and when the choice of Lily or him was given to Severus, he had chosen Riddle.

She should have noticed the signs, of course. She should have noticed how he always changed when he was around his mates. She should have noticed the disgusting and degrading way that they spoke about women when they thought nobody was listening. She had passed it off as something men did: harmless and nothing worth troubling herself over. After all, boys will be boys.

More still, she should have noticed how isolated she had become from her friends and family. Before they had separated, she hadn't seen Mary, Marlene or Dorcas since her wedding. She had been cut off from them all, and it was only after she broke away from Severus' hold that she realised he had been slowly, but surely, forcing her to push them all away.

"Mr Snape and Ms Evans," as the words came out of Lestrange's mouth, Lily glanced up at Severus and noticed the emptiness in them. It had been so long since she'd been addressed as an Evans; she had been Mrs Snape for three years. "Please review the documents in front of you and sign on the dotted line on the second last page."

Lily nodded and was handed a sleek black fountain pen, the fancy sort that people like lawyers and executives used. Her eyes skimmed the documents.

..._full ownership and custody of Achilles, five-year-old black English Cocker Spaniel._

…._full ownership of Crawley Cottage to Ms Evans._

…_..entitled to 100% of assets in the event of Severus Snape's unexpected, and untimely death where a spouse or next of kin is not available..._

Lily's hand hovered over the dotted signature line, and she watched curiously at her fingers as the fountain pen shook in her hand. A small part of her wanted to throw the papers away; take it all back, but the larger part of her was ready to break away from Severus' hold on her.

He had lied to her, taking her away from her friends and her family. He had isolated her and taken her for granted — she had had enough. She couldn't let him control her life anymore. She couldn't let herself be blinded by her love and affection for him. She just couldn't — she _wouldn't_.

Lily looked back up at Severus and stared into his dark eyes, full of emotion: hate, resentment, love, and pain. She had loved him, loved those eyes, that face; loved him when he thought he had been unworthy. Even now, she still loved him, but perhaps he had been right to think himself unworthy of her love.

Who could they live with themselves after committing such atrocities against women and children? Who could live with themselves after smuggling products into the country that only hurt families?

"Do you regret any of it?" she asked before she could stop herself. She didn't know why she asked, or what she was asking about. Did she want to know if he regretted what he'd done? Regretted marrying?

He didn't answer, though his brows furrowed. She resented him for not answering. For once, she wanted him to tell her the truth, no matter how ugly it was.

"No," he started, his voice quiet, "I don't regret anything."

Just like that, all her illusions of him were shattered and broken. She hadn't known him, not the real him — only the illusion that he'd wanted her to see. Any hope she'd had of mending their relationship, of being together, was gone.

She had been a fool to think she could change him, to have ever believed that he would change for her. He was unashamed of who he was, even if he danced with the devil and hung out with people who indulged in his depravity.

Lily nodded, took a deep breath, and signed her name on the dotted line. It was odd, she thought, as she watched Severus sign his name next to hers. It was odd to think their marriage — their relationship could end with the scribble of a pen.

The rest of the meeting went by in a blur of shaken hands and papers shuffled and shared. It was only when Lily walked out of the room that she realised just how much lighter her heart felt, and how suddenly brighter the world seemed.

"Lily?" She stopped, her hand on the door that would take her back out on the street. She didn't turn around, she couldn't face Severus, not now. "I—I—" he paused as his voice choked. "What happened to us? What went so wrong?"

She didn't answer for a while, she didn't trust her voice just yet.

"You were always going to choose _them_ over me."

"Th-that's not fair, they're my friends."

She took a deep breath and nodded, a sardonic smile creeping onto her face. Of course he was right.

"I know they are, but if it really came down to it, you would choose them over me, and you did." She sighed. "That's okay, really it is. But it's not okay for _me_ to be the second choice. I can't live like that, not anymore."

She wanted to turn around and apologise, to hug him, to kiss him, to leave some trace of sweetness in their goodbye, but her body decided otherwise.

It was raining outside, and Lily turned her face to the sky, eyes shut as she did. It was freezing, and she would no doubt catch a cold, but she felt the pain that Severus had caused her wash away as the rain fell.

"Lily Evans?" A familiar voice said as a man without an umbrella and glasses approached her, a lanky dalmatian at his side. "Christ, I can't believe it's you - what are you doing out in the rain?"

Lily smiled at him, they'd gone to the same school together - back then he had been an insufferable prat and had taken the mickey out of Severus.

"Oh nothing, just forgot an umbrella."

He looked sceptical, "Alright, well I was actually on my way to have coffee with Marlene and Sirius — want to come?"

She debated saying no, but as she looked at him, she found herself saying the exact opposite.

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**A/N**

**WORD COUNT: 2615**

* * *

The Houses Competition, Round 5

House: Lions

Category: Standard

Subject: History of Magic

Prompt/s: [Action] Ending a marriage arrangement

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Hogwarts Competition

House: Gryffindor

Subject: Mundane Literature

Task/s: #8 - Write about someone's life suddenly changing


End file.
